Tribunal Superior de Puerto Rico

Lydia Echevarría (born October 14, 1931) is a Puerto Rican actress who was convicted of plotting the murder of her husband, renowned Puerto Rican television show producer, Luis Vigoreaux.

Early years

Echevarría, met producer Luis Vigoreaux in 1960, during the presentation of a show called "La Hora Cero" (Zero Hour) which Vigoreaux produced with actor Mario Pabón. On February 10, 1960, after they were married, Echevarría joined her husband as co-host in the 1960s and 70s in the television shows Pa'rriba Papi Pa'rriba and Sube Nene Sube transmitted through WAPA-TV and together, they became one of Puerto Rico's most famous couples. Vigoreaux and Echevarría had two daughters, Vanessa Vigoreaux and Glendaly Vigoreaux.

Films

Among the films and Novelas (soap operas) in which Echevarría has participated are the following:

• Doña Ana (short) - as Dona Ana (2003)

• Life During Wartime - as Evangelina (2009) (Post-production)

Novelas

• Vivir para tí (TV series) - as Clara (1982)

• Yo sé que mentía (TV series) - (1982

Conviction

In 1982, Luis Vigoreaux allegedly began an affair with model Nydia Castillo, and in 1983, he was found burnt to death inside his car. Almost immediately, a large part of the public started pointing fingers at different people, and in 1984, Echevarría was formally accused of her husband's death. Her trial was one of the most sensational in Puerto Rican history, with a media circus atmosphere because of the celebrity status of the couple.

In 1986, she was found guilty and sentenced to 208 years in a women's prison in Vega Alta, Puerto Rico. However, her health deteriorated and in 1999, Governor Pedro Rosselló allowed her to leave jail to live at home under a curfew.

In 2001, she resumed her acting career with the presentation of a play titled "Confinadas" (meaning women prisoner) in the same prison where she served her time. Since then she has appeared in plays and some TV shows, on the condition that she be home by 8 p.m. every night.

Glendaly Vigoreaux, the couple's eldest daughter, committed suicide in her Arizona residence on July 15, 2008.

Wikipedia.org

Echevarría case exposes justice double standards

By Robert Becker - Puerto Rico Herald

March 9, 2001

In a recent matinee performance at the Guaynabo Performing Arts Center, the crowd of middle class theater goers stood and cheered for actress Lydia Echevarria, the star of “The Convicts,” a play about life in prison.

It was an ironic moment in Guaynabo, the San Juan suburb whose residents boast the highest per capita income in Puerto Rico. The fans had sallied forth from their posh homes in Guaynabo’s gated communities to cheer on a convicted murderer.

The Echevarria case, full of soap-operatic twists and turns, shows there are two standards of justice in Puerto Rico: one for the rich, famous and well-connected; and another for everyone else.

Echevarria’s return to the stage, little more than a year after receiving a commutation of her sentence for the first degree murder of her husband, has triggered screaming newspaper headlines, intense TV news coverage and an avalanche of phone calls to talk radio programs. Adding to the bizarre atmospherics, Echevarria in the production plays Maggie, a woman sentenced to 99 years in prison for killing her husband.

It was a reprise of a role Echevarria played on stage 20 years ago, just before the horrific events that led to her imprisonment.

Echevarria, now 70, was in her heyday one of Puerto Rico’s best-known actresses on stage and television. She was married to TV personality and producer Luis Vigoreaux.

On Jan. 17, 1983, Vigoreaux was kidnapped by two thugs, driven to a remote area outside of San Juan, and then repeatedly stabbed with an ice pick and bludgeoned with a tire iron. While Vigoreaux was still alive, drug addict David Lopez Watts and male model Francisco “ Papo” Newmann stuffed him into the trunk of the Mercedes, doused the car with gasoline and set it ablaze. The autopsy report showed Vigoreaux was roasted alive.

The police tracked down the kidnappers, who said Echevarria paid them the princely sum of $2,500 for the murder. It came to light that Vigoreaux had a fashion-model mistress, and was planning to divorce his wife and marry the younger woman. He was murdered the day his divorce decree was supposed to be finalized.

After a sensational trial, Echevarria was convicted in July, 1986, for first degree murder and kidnapping. She received a 208-year sentence, which she began serving at the Vega Alta Women’s women’s jail. Ultimately, she served 13 1/2 years.

Echevarria numbered among her friends wealthy and influential people in business and the arts. They campaigned continuously for her release. On March 7, 1996, during the observation of Women’ s Week, the Puerto Rico Senate voted 21-0 urging her release. Finally, Gov. Pedro Rossello on Jan. 27, 2000 commuted her sentence.

Rossello’s commutation was almost as controversial as Echevarria’s return to the stage. While he had once said that he would not extend clemency to anyone convicted of a violent crime or drug trafficking, his commutation violated that pledge. Moreover, despite a mountain of evidence, Echevarria has steadfastly refused to admit her part in the murder, and has never expressed remorse.

Rossello told me, in a December, 2000 interview in his office, that he released Echevarria for ‘ humanitarian reasons” -- her declining health. He said the commutation was an exception to his long-held policy, and that Echevarria presented no danger to the community.

Echevarria’s actions since her release have made a mockery of the commutation. The convict in declining health told reporters after her March 4 matinee performance that her knees bothered her but that otherwise she felt “fine.”

Echevarria had applied to the Puerto Rico Parole Board to extend her curfew from 8 p.m. until 1 a.m. so she could do evening performances, but she was turned down.

A sizable bloc of public opinion is favorable to Echevarria. In a telephone survey conducted by the San Juan Star around the time of her performance, 46 percent of the respondents said they disagreed with the Parole Board’s denial of her request to extend her curfew.

One of Vigoreaux’s children, Roberto Vigoreaux, is a member of the Puerto Rico legislature. Distressed by his mother’s conduct, he has prompted legislative hearings to demand the release of her medical records.

Celeste Benitez, a former Popular Democratic Party senator, said Echevarria’s release from jail was unsupportable, as evidenced by her complete lack of rehabilitation.

Echevarria indeed remains unrepentant, even defiant, about the murder and her public notoriety, When a Channel 11-TV reporter asked her in a recent on-camera interview about the murder, she stormed off the set.

On stage, while making her curtain call to her cheering fans in Guaynabo, the murderess did a few dance steps before heading for the wings.

Another tragedy for Vigoreaux family

El Vocero de Puerto Rico

July 18, 2008

Police in Glendale County, Arizona confirmed yesterday that 44-year-old Glendaly Vigoreaux Echevarría, daughter of the late [Puerto Rican] TV producer Luis Vigoreaux and actress Lydia Echevarría, was found dead by her husband Paul Hacker in their home on Frier Drive in Glendale, Arizona.

According to Glendale Police report PD 08-77459 signed by Sergeant Jim Toomey, agency detectives are investigating Glendaly Vigoreaux's death as a suicide, as confirmed by the autopsy performed by the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office.

The report indicated that officers responded to a call on Tuesday, July 15 at 9:58 AM from the residence of Glendaly Vigoreaux and Paul Hacker on Frier Drive.

Vigoreaux and Hacker were married, although the former kept her maiden name.

According to the report, Hacker told police officers that he left his house around 7:30 AM and returned shortly thereafter, finding Vigoreaux lifeless on the floor. The body had a bullet wound to the head. A semiautomatic caliber .380 revolver was found at the scene. Forensic and physical evidence is consistent with a self-inflicted shooting.

Officials with the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office performed an autopsy and concluded that the manner of death points to suicide.

The reason for Vigoreaux to take her life is unknown.

For his part, Vigoreaux's uncle and Lydia Echevarría's brother Rafael Miranda Rodríguez said yesterday that "at 4:00 PM, I spoke to Lydia from the airport in Houston - which means she has not arrived - and told me that [Glendaly's sister] Vanessa – who is in Glendale, in front of the house – told her that it was full of paparazzi, worse that here."

Miranda revealed that "it was finally confirmed to Lydia, after Glendaly's autopsy, that it was a suicide. Glenda's husband Paul had not told her due to all her health conditions such as diabetes, heart conditions, and thyroid. Seeing her so desperate about the illnesses, he made the decision not to say [anything] about the suicide. That is the scenario Lydia faced. And Vanessa is over there. Paul practices target shooting and had new-automobile dealerships."

Miranda indicated that "Paul is traumatized because he had never lived that experience among celebrities, and said that seeing all those photographers was a horrible thing. For now, the body will be brought home for a wake."

Francisco 'Papo' Newman is a Puerto Rican who was convicted of murder, after allegedly participating in the murder of the Puerto Rican television entertainer Luis Vigoreaux on January 17, 1983.

Newman was arrested, confessed to the crime, and testified against his accomplices in exchange for a reduced sentence. He identified David López Watts as his accomplice and Vigoreaux's wife Lydia Echevarría as the mastermind (in 1986, she was found guilty and sent to prison for 254 years). Newman stated that he was addicted to drugs and that he had taken drugs before committing the crime.

Newman confessed that it was he who entered Vigoreaux's car and ordered Vigoreaux to drive to the place where the murder was committed. He also confessed that after López Watts stabbed Vigoreaux, he hit the victim on the head with a car wrench. Ultimately, Newman confessed that it was he who spread gasoline over Vigoreaux's car and set it on fire, burning Vigoreaux to death as he was still alive and locked in the trunk of the car.

Newman was charged with first degree murder, aggravated kidnapping, conspiracy, and aggravated damages. He has expressed regret about his actions, attributing his behaviour at the time to his drug addiction.